The Planning Authority has given the go-ahead for two new hotels, both 14 storeys high, in a residential area between Bisazza Street and Zimmermann Barbaro Street in Sliema. 

The three-star hotels, with 158 rooms, will be built in an area featuring multiple old, neglected townhouses that still maintain their traditional facades. 

The hotels will also feature an indoor pool, gym, spa, self-imposed piazza along part of the site frontage on Zimmermann Barbaro Street, and an outdoor pool on the roof of each hotel.

According to the project’s simplified traffic statement, traffic access to the site is not straightforward due to the existing site accessibility issues. This is not surprising, considering that some parts of the alley leading to Zimmermann Barbaro are around two metres wide. 

The statement said the road is completely designated as a pedestrian zone, which implies that priority is given to pedestrians at all times, and also implies that regular traffic does not use this road since it is inaccessible to vehicles.

The case officer had recommended the application for refusal, saying the additional floors above the height limitation policy run counter to local plans, even when considering the height limitation adjustment for hotels. 

“It does not respond positively to its context, particularly in terms of visual impact,” the case officer said. 

A number of significant architectural features in one of the townhouses also sparked a reason for refusal, saying that demolishing would go against policies which aim to safeguard cultural heritage.

The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage disagreed with the townhouses’ demolition due to their facades and architectural features. They recommended that the existing facades, except for those closest to Bisazza Street, be retained and incorporated into the proposed development.

Environmental NGO Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar also raised concerns about the impact on Sliema residents. 

FAA said a 14-storey high hotel on a lane barely two metres wide, not only violates planning regulations but drastically reduces residents’ quality of life.  

Astrid Vella, FAA spokesperson, said: “This is a total negation of the basic norms of urban planning. Based on how high and narrow it will be, we can expect that area to be turned into a dark canyon that has the potential to impact the mental health of the residents.” 

“We talk about mental health, but we are depriving people the basic right to natural light.”

FAA is also concerned about the impact on residents’ health of the toxic emissions generated by the 1,000 car trips this project is expected to generate, not to mention the impossibility of manoeuvring in this dead-end lane.

FAA also highlighted the fact that the project did not undergo an Environment Impact Assessment as required by the EU directive for major building or development projects to be assessed for their impact on the environment and residents. 

Vella said the association and the residents of the area intend to take the matter to an EU level to ensure that this project is properly assessed.